Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis escalated his hostilities with former President Donald J. Trump on Friday, arguing that his Republican presidential rival was weak on crime and immigration and accusing him of ceding critical decision-making during the coronavirus pandemic to Dr. Anthony S. .Fauci.
In an appearance with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, Mr. DeSantis accused Mr. Trump, the GOP favorite, to “move left” on criminal justice and immigration issues after winning over the party’s base in 2015 and 2016.
He promised to repeal what is known as the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice measure signed by Mr. Trump in 2018 who expanded early release programs and changed sentencing laws, including mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders.
“He enacted a bill, basically a jailbreak,” Mr. DeSantis. “It has allowed dangerous people out of prison who have now reoffended and done a lot of harm to a lot of people.”
This year, The New York Times reported that Mr. DeSantis and his allies saw the criminal justice bill, which Mr. Trump signed at the behest of his son-in-law Jared Kushner — and immediately regretted it — as an area of political weakness. and that Mr. DeSantis had indicated that he would use it in the fight for the nomination. The bill is unpopular among parts of Mr. trump
But for Mr. DeSantis, attack Mr. Trump for the First Step Act is potentially complicated. DeSantis himself voted for the first version of the bill when he was in Congress, and Trump allies have tried to highlight that fact.
“So now swamp politician Ron DeSanctimonious claims he voted for it before he voted against it,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “Sounds just like John Kerry. What a jerk! He can’t get away from his disastrous, embarrassing, low-energy ad. Rookie mistakes and unforced errors – that’s him.”
(Mr. DeSantis’ allies point out that the version of the bill he voted for looked very different, and that the final version was passed when it was no longer in the House.)
When Mr. Shapiro asked Mr. DeSantis on recent criticism of Mr. Trump that crime had increased under his watch in Florida, the former president’s adopted state, Mr. DeSantis said the policies of Mr. Trump had undermined law and order.
Mr. DeSantis stepped up his attacks on his former ally, whom he had avoided directly criticizing for months, less than 48 hours after entering the race in a stormy Twitter event.
And since Mr. As DeSantis appears to be veering to the right on issues like crime, some of his campaign’s internal strategy is coming to light.
At a fundraising meeting in Miami on Thursday, donors hailed key members of Mr. DeSantis with questions about his policy positions and how they should present themselves to other Republicans, according to a leaked audio recording. published online by the Florida Politics website.
A donor raised a question about the shift to the right, to which a campaign official eventually responded, “We only need to win a primary to be in a general.”
Donors and officials also discussed how to talk to Republicans who support abortion rights. (Mr. DeSantis last month signed a six-week abortion ban in Florida, which contains limited exceptions, while Mr. Trump has been hesitant to support a federal ban.)
A staff member offered a possible answer.
“Abortion is safe, legal and rare in Florida,” he said, mimicking a phrase coined by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat. “It has not been banned,” he added. “It’s limited.”
In his interview with Shapiro on Friday, Mr. DeSantis tried to present himself as unwavering on illegal immigration, saying Mr. Trump had attacked him for opposing amnesty legislation while in Congress.
He also blamed Mr. Trump for his administration’s handling of the 2020 coronavirus outbreak, particularly the level of influence wielded by Dr. Fauci, the top infectious disease expert and face of the federal government’s pandemic response.
Dr. Fauci, who retired in January, has been a frequent target of Republican attacks on issues including remote learning, stay-at-home orders and vaccine mandates.
“He responded by elevating Anthony Fauci and really giving the reins to Dr. Fauci, and I think the dire consequences for the United States,” Mr. DeSantis. “I was the leader of this country in the fight against Fauci. We rejected him every step of the way.”
He said Dr. Fauci should have been fired, but Mr. Trump had honored him.
“I think the fact that Donald Trump gave Anthony Fauci a presidential commendation Trump’s last day in office, it was a blow to millions of people in this country who were harmed by Fauci’s lockdowns,” Mr. DeSantis said.
A day before, in a publication by Mr. Trump on his Truth Social platform, the former president criticized Mr. DeSantis for Florida’s response to the pandemic. He said even former New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had done a better job limiting the loss of life from the virus than Mr. DeSantis.
Mr. DeSantis described Mr. Trump as “very strange” and said it suggested he would double down on his actions if there was another pandemic.
